EASY TALKIN' WITH ROSIE P.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ

What a kick it was talking to Rosie Perez on Friday morning.

Our telephone interview was for a column I'm running next month connected to the DVD release of the film "The Take," but I had to jump the gun with some of the other things we talked about.

I told Rosie that as much as I have enjoyed her performances in such films as "Fearless" (for which she was Oscar-nominated) and "Do the Right Thing," I especially love seeing her as a guest on talk shows.

"I love it, too!" she said. "I remember the first time I was on with Arsenio Hall and I was so nervous. I was shaking and he just held my hand. The pre-interview went out the window because my mind went blank and I just started talking to him."

And so began her popularity as a guest on the talk show circuit.

"David Letterman is one of my favorites. Every time I go, I still get nervous. But it's electric."

So what does Rosie think makes her such a hit on Letterman and other shows?

"I feel that maybe it's because I'm Latin I feel like I'm holding court in my living room with my family, telling jokes and having a ball," she said. "I forget about plugging stuff. You just gotta have fun. I love to entertain."

I also wanted to know how her Broadway experience was last fall when she starred in "The Ritz" in the role Rita Moreno played in the 1970s film version.

"It was exhilarating," she said, "and the hardest thing I ever did. I thought I was gonna die. I dropped 10 pounds -- it made me look fabulous, by the way! Doing farce is very challenging."

She remembers going home after rehearsal one day and The Marx Brothers movie "Duck Soup" was on.

"I love The Marx Brothers and I just burst into tears wondering, 'How did they do it?' The timing was impeccable."

But she was able to pull herself together and triumph during her Broadway run.

'Peggy Sue' ordered to pay up for Nicolas Cage tale

This is one of the more bizarre turn of events involving former co-stars. Kathleen Turner, in her recent autobiography, had alleged that her "Peggy Sue Got Married" co-star Nicolas Cage had been arrested twice for drunk driving and also for stealing a Chihuahua.

Cage, star of the "National Treasure" franchise and an Oscar winner for "Leaving Las Vegas," filed a libel suit against the actress and, on Friday, won an apology and damages in a British court.

He had sued the publisher of "Send Yourself Roses," as well as the publisher of Britain's Daily Mail, which ran an excerpt from the book.

Turner wote that Cage was "arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, for stealing a dog. He'd come across a Chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket."

In addition to paying for legal costs, the defendants will publish apologies to Cage and insert a printed correction/apology page into books still in stock.

Gee, kinda makes you wonder what else in the book might be untrue.

CAPTION(S):

2 photo

Photo:

(1 -- color) ROSIE PEREZ

(2 -- color) Cage